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Saturday, November 22, 2008

I have to confess - the only reason I read this novel was because I loved the story behind how Stephanie Meyer came to write it. Her dream, her journey through writing, her incredible success is every wannabe-author's ultimate fantasy. I just wanted to be in on the secret the whole world already seems to know.

Only I didn't count on the secret being so addictive! I'll admit that for an adult reader, it was a bit slow to start - the whole high school thing doesn't really hook you in right away. But by about half-way through I was a gonner, just reading and reading, desperate to know how it ended. I timed it so I would finish the book late Friday night and Saturday morning I went and bought the rest of the series. I haven't stopped reading since and don't expect to emerge from Twilight-land till mid next week.

I think that one of the things that makes this series so readable is that Meyers approaches the vampire thing with such intensity yet at the same time, a great deal of delicacy. She doesn't overwhelm or repulse the reader with all the gory blood details but gives you enough that the bad guys of the book are pretty scary. I don't think that I personally would've been able to read and enjoy it so much if the good guys had been vegetarians.

This book is a fantastic love story, a great star-crossed lovers tale that is wound with a high level of sexual and emotional desperation. The boundaries of Edward and Bella's physical relationship (only very light kissing) does nothing to still the erotic energy of the novel. The way Meyer describes Edward's careful, light touching of Bella's cheek, her waist, her throat, tells the reader so much of the unspoken desires that connect these two characters. A weird yet appealing kind of sexual abstinence.

The danger, the tension, I was fascinated. I needed a resolution. I needed - still NEED - to know what happens to Bella and Edward. Does she become a vampire? And if she did, what would happen to her after the transition? Can she really leave her family behind?

I stayed up till 2 am reading the sequel, New Moon and I expect much of today will be spent with my nose in Eclipse.

I am terrified of vampires, a blood phobic, a non-teenager and an unexpected Twilight fan.